Annual Church Camp 2019

March 1-3, 2019

Life – Put on the Mind of Christ

Praise God !  Over 300 brothers and sisters from Hong Kong and overseas gathered together for our Annual Camp at Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village.

The camp kicked off with a passionate worship session. Through worship, brothers and sisters readied their hearts to listen to God’s Word. Pastor Gavin then introduced us to the series of sermons focused on 1 Peter 1:13, which says, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”.

When we came to Christ, God not only gave us a new spirit – the Holy Spirit – but He also intends to transform our soul and our body through the Spirit so that we can live a victorious life in Him. We transform not by our own human effort, but by aligning our will with God’s will i.e. putting on the mind of Christ.  In the first lesson, we learned that we need to “gird up the loins” of our minds by using the belt of truth – the Word of God. When our faith is built on the foundation of truth, it will grow and bear fruit in our lives.

In the next morning, our spirits were refreshed by an intimate praise and worship session. Pastor Gavin then gave us the second lesson on how to “be sober”. The enemy is always looking to attack our minds and destroy our faith so that we will choose to walk away from God. However, the truth is that the enemy has already been defeated on the cross by Jesus. We should be aware of our own emotions, which is an indicator of whether we have fallen into the trickery of the enemy. In fact, we only need to look upon Jesus and what He has achieved for us. When we choose to believe and hold on to the truth, strongholds will be pulled down. We will find security in Him and He will fill us with joy, peace and His love. Praise the Lord !

After lunch and some more praise and worship, it was Hope Fun time ! Praise God for the beautiful sunshine after the rainy morning.  Everyone put on the beautifully designed camp t-shirt and got ready for the fun !  This year, we were split up into 10 teams to play some fun and challenging games. Each team had to work together to complete a series of tasks ranging from bamboo dance to transporting beach balls with strings. One of the tasks was using a large parachute umbrella to toss balls around between two teams. It was a challenging task but all groups enjoyed it thoroughly amidst much laughter, shouting and screaming. Then, as the final and most exciting task, the whole church cooperated as a team to form the word “Jesus” on the field to take an aerial shot with a drone. It was so much fun posing together and waving at the sky.  Brothers and sisters all gave their best smiles and it was a great success !  When the video was shown later that evening, everyone cheered with joy ! Glory to the Lord !

Before dinner, we had some free time to spend in fellowship. Some of us went to play sports, some got together for board games, some simply sat on the field together for sharing.  Praise God for every moment that we spend with one another.

The evening session began with a wonderful time of worship as we lifted up the name of Jesus. Afterwards, Pastor Gavin continued with the third lesson on how to “rest our hope” upon the grace at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Hope is a crucial ingredient of our faith. We must anchor our hope on the perfect grace, love and goodness of God which is embodied in Jesus Christ. When we hope in Jesus, He will never disappoint us. At the altar call, brothers and sisters responded to Jesus by submitting all negative thoughts to Him and putting their hope in Him. God is indeed good all the time !

On the third day, it was our Mission Sunday service and we joyfully worshipped the Lord together. In the final sermon, Pastor Gavin explained what it truly means by putting on the mind of Christ. In fact, when we first believed in Jesus, we have already received the Holy Spirit.  We only need to allow Him to renew our minds. The Spirit will lead us and help us turn our eyes back on to Christ and His grace. Everything comes from God’s providence. When we put on the mind of Christ, we will see that we are co-heirs to the abundant inheritance and receive it with a grateful heart.

At the altar call, brothers and sisters responded to Christ and also gave their mission pledge with hearts full of thanksgiving.

After lunch, we took our annual group photo as a big family. Brothers and sisters then split up into groups to enjoy fellowship and deeper sharing time with each other before departing the campsite.

Praise the Lord for renewing our hearts and minds !

Let us keep putting on the mind of Christ and be transformed by Him !